The 250-seat Hongkew (Hongkou) Theatre, China’s first professional cinema dates back to 1908, though this picture is from 1915. It was one of the cluster of cinemas on the North Sichuan Road, including the Isis (which I’ve blogged about several times before). The Hongkew was founded by Spaniard Antonio Ramos (who ran a lot of cinemas and amusement arcades around Shanghai at the time) and, after 1945, became an opera house. A beautiful building, a wonderful cinema, pure Shanghai heritage – and so of course the site was demolished in 1988 to make way for the expansion of Haining Lu!
Fine antique maps from 16th to 20th century including the Robert Nield Collection of early charts and maps of Macau and the Pearl River
Thursday 5th September 2019 to Saturday 5th October 2019 Wattis Fine Art Gallery 20 Hollywood Road, 2/F, Central, Hong Kong Tel. +852 2524 5302 E-mail. info@wattis.com.hk
I have a review of the excellent thriller Beijing Payback by Daniel Nieh in the South China Morning Post this week – https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3022878/beijing-payback-daniel-nieh-paints-picture-perfect
Prohibition was introduced in the United States in 1920. In 1919, in the arguments in the run up to the Volstead Act, some pro-Prohibition American newspapers decided to equate whiskey with opium, and the American government’s active attempt to ban opium trafficking, in what became a rather confused argument….
I posted a couple of days ago on the Barcelona restaurant opposite the hai-alai fronton at 305 Avenue Roi Albert (Shaanxi Road South). Just close by was also the Sevilla at 316-318 Avenue Roi Albert…probably arguing for the same clientele after the hai-alai….
